Latest on turmoil at Zulily | Amazon reveals secret about Project Kuiper satellites

Latest on Zulily turmoil: The online retailer surprised some employees on Wednesday, notifying them that it was their last day at the company. Zulily submitted filings last week with state employment officials and said it planned to lay off workers starting Feb. 7 of next year. One affected employee described Wednesday’s move as “infuriating.” Read more. 

Amazon reveals secret about Project Kuiper satellites: Ending years of speculation, Amazon acknowledged that the satellites are equipped with lasers for optical inter-satellite links, designed to create a high-speed mesh network in space — and says the system has been successfully tested in orbit. SpaceX's Starlink satellites are already using lasers for similar purposes. Read more. 

Spendy and slow repairs frustrate Tesla drivers: Some consumers are wondering if they should tap the brakes on electric vehicle purchases, or if crash repair worries are overblown. Read more. 

Slalom moving Seattle HQ to new nest: The business and technology firm is taking over multiple floors and putting its name on “Slalom Hawk Tower” near Lumen Field. The building was previously “Avalara Hawk Tower,” after the sales tax automation company. Read more.

Seattle startup LevelTen Energy, Microsoft, Google, and two clean energy companies are partnering to create a marketplace to help groups with climate pledges reach their ambitious goals. Read more. 

Microsoft secured a court order to seize and take down websites used by a group that it describes as the “number one seller and creator of fraudulent Microsoft accounts,” which deployed bots capable of tricking the CAPTCHA systems normally used to confirm that humans are creating accounts. Read more. 

Tech Moves: PNNL leader Joseph Williams is returning to the Washington state Department of Commerce; longtime Seattle-area communications exec and startup founder Bill Hankes is leaving Forbes; and more key personnel changes. 

Startup fundings:

• Lessen Peak lands $6M: The Bellevue, Wash.-based startup is developing a handheld device for detecting concealed weapons, for use by law enforcement.  

• Parse Biosciences raises $50M: The Seattle biotech startup is developing single cell sequencing products used by more than 1,000 labs worldwide.

• See all recent Pacific Northwest startup investments at our recent fundings list. 

Hot Links:

• Jeff Bezos talks space exploration, Blue Origin, the early days of Amazon and much more in a 2-hour podcast discussion with Lex Fridman. (YouTube)

• Generative AI predictions for 2024: Madrona Venture Group’s Matt McIlwain says there will be a maturing of the market and moving beyond experimentation. (Madrona)

• “If you’re not pairing up with ChatGPT and Bard for your programming, you’re already falling behind,” says heyLibby.ai co-founder and CTO Anna Rodriguez. (LinkedIn)

• To demystify artificial intelligence, experts at Microsoft offer up nine tips on how to maximize its use in our everyday lives. (Teen Vogue)

• University of Washington researchers found that Seattle metro residents near Amazon delivery stations are exposed to more delivery truck pollution but they order fewer packages. (UW News)